FOX comments are xenophobic and racist

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Sept. 24, 2014) — The Organization of Chinese Americans – Asian Pacific American Advocates, a national membership-driven organization of community advocates dedicated to advancing the social, political, and economic well-being of Asian Pacific Americans, is outraged at the xenophobic and racist comments made during Fox News’ Cashing In segment.

On Saturday, September 20, panelists on Fox News’ Cashin’ In segment discussed profiling in the United States. The panelists called for increased profiling of Muslim Americans, along with the possibility of internment. One panelist, Jonathan Hoenig, goes so far as to say, “The last war we won, we put Japanese Americans in internment camps. We dropped nuclear bombs on residential city centers. So yeah, I think profiling would be at least a good start. It’s not on skin color…it’s on ideology.”

“The overwhelming consensus among the panelist to profile Muslim Americans and the comment made by Jonathan Hoenig affirming the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II is disgusting, xenophobic, and racist,” said Sharon M. Wong, OCA National President. “Protecting our national security should never come at the cost of an entire community’s civil rights. The internment of Japanese Americans did not increase the United States’ chance of success during World War II. And the continued profiling, harassment, and hate against the Muslim, Sikh, and South Asian American communities will not secure the United States borders or help us win the war on terror. The only thing profiling will accomplish is the continued persecution of immigrant communities.”

Since September 11, anti-Islamic and anti-Asian/Pacific Islander hate crimes have increased and continue to remain higher than pre-September 11 numbers. South Asian Americans Leading Together recently released a report highlighting xenophobic rhetoric and hate crimes against South Asian, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, Middle Eastern, and Arab Communities in the United States. The report indicates that over 80 percent of all hate violence against these communities were driven by anti-Muslim sentiment.

“Our communities demand an apology from Fox News for the comments made. When they speak about profiling based on ideology, they are speaking about profiling based language, country of origin, religion, and ultimately skin color. Irrational fears of internal sabotage and threats based on ideological indicators led to the incarceration of over 100,000 Japanese Americans during World War II; and those same indicators are what have increased hate crimes and profiling of Muslim, Sikh, and South Asian Americans since September 11,” said Ken Lee, OCA National Acting CEO. “Ultimately, those indicators come down to little more than an individual’s skin color and are merely a cover to deny civil liberties to communities because of their perceived race, ethnicity, or religion, not ideology.”